Tennessee Lottery help line sees increase in calls

Tennessee’s 2-year-old lottery, however, is still relatively new and that number could increase as people are just now developing compulsive gambling problems, according to Stacy Bernard, a specialist with the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug and other Addiction Services.

“It’s not really gotten to the point where people say, ‘I need help,'” she said.

The General Assembly set aside $200,000 in 2004 to pay for services to prevent and treat gambling addictions. The money is being used to pay for outpatient treatment programs and to expand the scope of the lottery hotline Tennessee Redline, which also handles drug and alcohol abuse-related calls.

Redline did not track the number of gambling-related calls it received before April, but it accepted calls from people having gambling problems, usually in addition to other abuse problems, Bernard said.

The number of gambling-related calls has increased since the Tennessee Lottery began advertising Redline’s toll-free number at retail stores though the increase hasn’t been dramatic, officials say.

Redline operators previously referred callers with gambling problems to Gambler’s Anonymous, said Linda McCorkle, a treatment consultant with the Department of Health’s Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services.

“There was nothing put in place in Tennessee for money to come from the lottery,” McCorkle said. “In some states that’s the way it works, but they didn’t do that here.”

Kym Gerlock, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Lottery, said the General Assembly earmarked lottery revenues only for education programs.

“Our funds can’t be used to operate a gambling addiction hotline,” Gerlock said.